All not well between Siddaramaiah and Kumaraswamy? Here is what top Congress leader has to say

The Karnataka unit of the Congress party today rejected reports of differences with ruling alliance partner JD(S) led by Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy.

Karnataka minister DK Shivakumar (ANI)

The Karnataka unit of the Congress party today rejected reports of differences with ruling alliance partner JD(S) led by Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy. Rebutting reports, Congress leaders today said that party leaders would obey whatever decision is taken by party president Rahul Gandhi. “There’s no problem. We will obey whatever decision Rahul Gandhi has taken. Some people are trying to create differences but we’re looking at national interest and interest of the party,” Karnataka minister DK Shivakumar said when asked if there are any differences between CM Kumaraswamy and his predecessor and Congress leader Siddaramaiah.

Only last week, Kumaraswamy, while refuting reports of any differences between the two parties on presenting a full budget, had said that he planned to table the new budget in July’s first or second week. The remarks came soon after the Chief Minister met Congress president Rahul Gandhi in the national capital.

The clarification on part of the Congress coincides with the emergence of a video that shows Siddaramaiah concerned over how long the coalition government of Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) would survive in Karnataka. The former CM can be heard saying in the video that the alliance government headed by HD Kumaraswamy won’t be able to see the completion of five years and that the Congress entered into an alliance with the JD(S) keeping 2019 general elections in mind.

“Five years…difficult…let’s see what will happen after the parliament election (in 2019),” he was heard saying in the video as per a number of local channels. “The government will remain till parliament elections, after that, what all developments will happen (we will have to see),” he added. The video, it is believed, was recorded at a Dharmasthala hospital, where the Congress leader is under treatment.

The fresh development has come after a number of Congress leaders expressing concern over Kumaraswamy’s decision to present a full-fledged budget, to be presented next month. As per Siddaramaiah, he had presented full-fledged budget just before the Assembly polls, therefore there was no need for a separate budget.

The former CM feels that a new budget by the present government would give JD(S) MLAs an edge over the Congress lawmakers whose strength in the Assembly is more than the Kumaraswamy’s party. Kumaraswamy on the other had argued that as a new government is in place, a new budget is needed.